Bannon charged with fraud over Mexico wall fund
Four defendants accused of taking hundreds of thousands from online crowdfunding drive
Steve Bannon, former chief strategist to Donald Trump, has been charged with fraud relating to crowdfunding for a wall between Mexico and the US, to which thousands of people contributed $25 million. It is alleged Mr Bannon gained more than $1 million via an organisation he controls.
‘They are accused of creating sham invoices and accounts to launder donations and cover up their crimes’
STEVE BANNON, the former chief strategist to Donald Trump, has been arrested and charged with fraud over a crowdfunding scheme to build a wall between Mexico and the United States to which hundreds of thousands of people donated.
Mr Bannon and three others were indicted for their involvement in We Build the Wall, which sought money to privately fund the construction, and raised more than $25million (£19m).
Despite repeated promises that “100 per cent” of the donations would go to delivering the mission, and that those leading it would take “not a penny”, the four defendants actually obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors claim Mr Bannon himself received more than $1million via a non-profit organisation he controls, some of which was used to cover hundreds of thousands in personal expenses.
The four are accused of “creating sham invoices and accounts to launder donations and cover up their crimes, showing no regard for the law or the truth”. The other three defendants are
Brian Kolfage, 38, Andrew
56, and Timothy Shea, 49.
Mr Bannon, 66, was reportedly arrested yesterday morning on a 150ft yacht called Lady May, which according to one yacht firm is priced at about $28 million and has five cabins. The boat belongs to Guo Wengui, an exiled Chinese businessman, officials said.
Mr Bannon pleaded not guilty to the charges during a court appearance in which he dialled in via video. Bail was set at $5m, secured by $1.75m up front in cash or property. He was barred from travelling internationally or talking with the other defendants.
Mr Guo put out a statement saying: “Our past efforts with Mr Bannon in fighting for democracy in China had nothing to do with the Build the Wall organisation”.
Mr Kolfage, who lives in Florida, set up the online crowdfunding drive on Dec 17 2018, more than two years after Mr Trump won the White House, during which the president had struggled to get Congress’s approval for border wall funding, and it raised about $17 million within the first week. It would go on to raise more than $25 million. Mr Bannon became involved at a later stage. Mr Kolfage repeatedly made statements about not taking any money from the campaign, including, “I won’t take a penny from these donations”.
But, according to the indictment, a secret agreement was made where Mr Kolfage would in fact covertly be paid
“100k up front [and] then 20 [per] month”, which prosecutors said meant a monthly salary of about $20,000.
Mr Bannon was a central figure in Mr Trump’s political rise, taking over leadership of his 2016 presidential campaign and helping steer it to shock victory in November before entering the White House as chief strategist.
He is credited with helping hone Mr Trump’s nationalistic appeal to white America on the campaign trail. He lasted less than a year in the White House, leaving in August 2017.
Mr Trump distanced himself from Mr Bannon yesterday after the charges were announced. “I haven’t been dealing with him for a long period of time,” he said, calling the development “a very sad thing”.